DOPE

FILM REVIEW

A Nickelodeon after-school special directed by Kevin Smith with cussing and N-bombs.

A series of wacky mishaps leaves MC Hammer impersonator Malcolm (Shameik Moore) holding $100,000 worth of drugs in this messy mashup of Boyz n the Hood and After Hours. Rick Famuyiwa’s movie suffers from an acute identity crisis. Social commentary shifts to trite melodrama via coming-of-age sex comedy with the attention span of a Snapchat session. The unintentional laughs come from the cringe-inducing musical score (remember when Family Guy parodied the Fresh Prince?). By the time Famuyiwa walks home his solitary provocative idea, any potential has been squandered under a mound of ham-fisted morality and weak material. Like a Nickelodeon after-school special directed by Kevin Smith with cussing and N-bombs.